The sale is the first for NSN since it last week announced plans to sell units and axe 17,000 jobs, nearly 25% of its workforce. The price of the deal - which includes the complete WiMAX product portfolio, the related employees and assets, as well as active customer and supplier contracts - was not disclosed.

NSN said in a statement the deal was expected to close next month and some 300 NSN employees would transfer to NewNet. NewNet is owned by California-based private equity firm Skyview Capital LLC.

NSN, which has struggled to make a profit since being set up in 2007, was formed by Finnish cellphone maker Nokia and German conglomerate Siemens in the hope of building enough scale to lead an industry dominated by Swedish company Ericsson (Stockholm, Sweden) and, increasingly, by Chinese entrants.

It has faced aggressive pricing from rivals and an economic downturn that has forced telecoms companies to cut spending.

Last week NSN Chief Executive Rajeev Suri said in a letter to employees that the company would seek to exit or to put "on maintenance mode" businesses such as fixed-line VoIP, broadband access, WiMAX, narrowband, carrier Ethernet, business support systems, and communications and entertainment solutions.